


Azula is a lot less evil in this one

by GayGal



Series: I have some atla ideas [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Azula (Avatar)-centric, Azula joins the Gaang, Child Abuse, I'm Bad At Tagging, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Ozai (Avatar)'s A+ Parenting, Past Child Abuse, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, comments water my crops, i suck at writing but i hope you enjoy this, is it technically a redemption if she is basically not evil, sorry - Freeform, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayGal/pseuds/GayGal
Summary: What if Azula DIDN'T grow up to be an abusive ass who went off the deep end because her abusive father sucks ass? this has like no dialogue and is basically a rough idea. I might post more chapters, might not. sorry in advance.
Relationships: Azula & The Gaang (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: I have some atla ideas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905604
Kudos: 51





	Azula is a lot less evil in this one

Azula was as much a victim of Ozais abuse as Zuko, just in different ways. This is likely why she’s so abusive to those around her. But what if she wasn’t? That’s an idea that I like to think about. Basically how I see it going is sorta like this. 

Azula doesn’t show it, but mother leaving without a word hurt. But she put on her proud face. Father was becoming fire lord! This was good. She tried not to think about lu ten, dead on a battlefield somewhere. Of mother dead. Zuko was 8. She was 6. She let herself justify the burns and bruises and cuts across Zuko skin. He deserved them. Didn’t he? But then. Zuko was 13. She 11. Zuko had spoken out in a meeting and challenged to an Agni Kai. the room was hot, hundreds of people muttering. And the Ozai walked on to the stage. She only just managed to pretend, to hide the fear behind a smile as Ozai burnt Zuko’s face. She was so sure Uncle would step in. He didn’t. The doctors said he might never regain his sight and hearing on his left side. Zuko looked so young, almost younger than her on the bed. Most of his face was covered in bandages. And then she heard the news. Zuko was banished. Sent to find the avatar. Azula couldn’t put up her mask. She just stood there in shock. It was an impossible task. Her last look at her brother would be his face covered in bandages, near dead. Later Mai and Ty Lee came to her room and she finally peeked over her walls at them and fell apart. She told them about Ozai’s years of abuse. About how much it hurt to wear this mask of his perfect daughter, the cold, cruel, ruthless prodigy. How she even had to pretend as her brother was tortured by the fire lord. How it would be even harder without Zuko’s supposed weakness there. How everyone that could protect her was gone. Her mother. Zuko. Uncle. She rough;y wiped her tears away as she looked at her friends and broke down again and apologized for how she had treated them and how she’d do her best to protect them if they didn’t want to be her friends anymore. But to her surprise, they hugged her and said that they accepted her apology and still wanted to be her friends. And how they would always be there for her. She told them she would still have to act mean to them whenever Ozai or his spies could be watching, and they said again they wouldn’t leave her. And that is how the story changed. In front of everyone, she still acted as the perfect daughter. She bent lightning and talked down to people, belittling them. But when she was alone with Mai and Ty Lee she was her true self. They played with each other’s hair and told each other secrets. Ty Lee joined the circus, and Azula made excuses to watch her shows. And then. The news came to the palace. The avatar was back. And then she was sent to track Zuko down. She easily found their little seaside home and considered waiting for them inside, but decided to wait for them to come home so she could knock. But they never came. ARG. The ship! Of course they’d run. Perhaps they even heard of her orders to capture him. She went back to the ship. She said she couldn’t travel with all this fanfare. She went to find Mai and Ty Lee.  
>>>  
Ba sing se was amazing. There was so much life, so many people she was allowed to walk freely amongst. And then the news. Zuko was also here. She hadn’t seen him in three years. The guards threw him in the caverns before she could see him. But then she did. Uncle and...Zuko. The entire left side of his face was discolored. The scar brushed his nose and mouth, unevenly dividing his face in half. His left eye was milky, and when he turned to Uncle in surprise, she saw his ear was small and misshaped.  
“...Zuko.” she managed. “I missed you so much.” her voice was measured, a defense mechanism to hide behind. Uncle didn’t trust her. That was fair. She deserved it. She was horrible, evil selfish, cruel. But then Zuko stepped towards her and they met in the middle and she realized that she’d forgotten how kind his arms were. But uncle pulled him back, saying something about manipulation. She couldn’t let him see how much that hurt. He was just like mother. He thought she was a monster. And maybe she was. She should have stood up to Ozai.  
~  
Zuko didn’t know if Uncle could see the hurt on Azula’s face, but he could.  
~  
Zuko interrupted her thoughts and asked...how she was? What had she been doing these past few years? What was she doing here? Of course, she could hear what he was actually asking. If she was evil. So she explained. And fell apart, crying into Zuko’s shirt as she apologized for everything. She told him she wanted to stand up to Ozai but was too scared. About how much she missed him. And then...Zuko hugged her tightly and said he wished he could have been there for her. But once again, there was Uncles voice, talking about her manipulation, and how she’d acted on that fateful day three years ago. She started slinking back, mentally berating herself for everything. … but then she heard Zuko,,,was he yelling? At uncle? He was! About how even for manipulation, Azula would never lay herself bare like that. And then Uncle was walking towards her, reaching for her; she instinctively flinched back, berating herself mentally for showing weakness. She didn’t know why her uncle’s face looked so sad. Was it because of her weakness? But then she felt his arms around her, and she let herself relax into her arms. She hadn’t felt like this in so long. She’d sent Mai and Ty Lee back, telling them that she couldn’t risk them for this mission. They had argued, but she held firm. She knew the risks of Ba Sing Se, and what could happen if the mission failed. But that also meant it’d been a while since she’d had some truly know and care about her. Uncle suggested they meet up with the avatar and his friends to formulate a plan. When they came into the open space, all the kids whipped around to stare at them. At her and Zuko, specifically. They burst out with exclamations of surprise, shock, and anger. They were obviously ready to fight for each other. Uncle soothed them saying things about her and Zuko being “misguided youth” and that they could teach the avatar (his name was apparently aang) fire bending.  
“Wait, you’re not coming with?” Zuko asked, shocked. Uncle said something about his tea shop, and he’d help them stop the coup/fire nation takeover, but he was staying. Then the little blind girl spoke up, saying that apparently she could detect lies with her earthbending and they were telling the truth. The others seemed a little more trusting after that.


End file.
